


Decisions

by letalestrange



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Letas absued, Other, why her father is evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 09:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16870003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letalestrange/pseuds/letalestrange
Summary: Leta has never liked people laying down the law for her. Unfortunately her father doesn’t get the memo.Links into Acceptable





	Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote today because I had a day off school. It takes place during Acceptable and is another Leta centric fic because of how much I love her. It’s another one of those fics that somehow got about 1000 words added to it when I was typing because I got more inspo. Enjoy!

It was a normal day in the Lestrange household. Leta was sitting at her desk trying to complete her holiday homework without letting her attention drift out the window to the garden that was tempting her, mocking her even. She would much rather be outside lying in the sunshine in one of the secluded corners of the garden rather than inside in her room slaving over schoolwork. Unfortunately Leta didn’t always get to do what she wanted and if she went back to Hogwarts with no homework completed she would be sure to land herself with a month of detention, especially from the stricter teachers like Professor Dumbledore.

Dragging her eyes away from the window and back to her transfiguration essay she tried to focus. Her OWLs were looming on the horizon and if she wanted to have any chance in the world at all then she needed to do well on them. She enjoyed school but wasn’t a fan of spending all her time inside studying while she could be outside helping Newt with his creatures. When she was outside she was free, free from prying eyes and free from the whispers that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Being indoors felt like a prison.

Newt had always shared her views on this. Whenever possible the two of them would sneak out of the school and go for long walks around the lake or to the hippogriff paddock. Sometimes they would even go to the outskirts of the forbidden forest, seeing how deep they could get in before one of them lost their nerve and refused to go any farther in. It was something that she treasured, something that kept her going, a friendship that she wouldn’t trade for anything.

She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice when her families ancient house elf Pinky edged into her room. It took the house elf’s timid “excuse me miss Lestrange” to make her look up. The house elf seemed to shrink under her cool gaze. She knew that it was unfair to blame the creature but she had just been starting to get into the swing of writing we essay and she hated being interrupted, something that stemmed from the days of when the other first years would tease and mock her mercilessly while she was just trying to study and learn spells.

However angry she may be when the house elf informed her that her father wanted her downstairs in his study a cool dread settled over her. Her father wasn’t the type that saw her just for pleasure and when he summoned her it was normally to either berate or her to inform her of some plan he had made for her. Either one of these things would be bad at this moment in time but she hoped it was the former. When he shouted at her she could just stand there and take it without being expected to show much of a reaction or even care about what he was saying but when he was planning things for her she was expected to be excited about it and be making additional plans to add on to his.

Hurrying downstairs she searched her mind trying to think of what her father might want her for. She came up with nothing. Why had he chosen this particular time to call her down? She had avoided him for days so he had nothing to be angry about.

Smoothing a hand through her hair she reached up and rapped on the door. She stood back and waited until he confirmed she could enter before starting forward. When she entered she was surprised to see a chair sitting in front of his desk for her instead of her usual low stool. He motioned for her to sit down and leaned forward, entwining his hands. Her heart sunk- this was definitely going to be a planning session.

Lowering herself onto the seat she met her fathers eye, challenging him to do his worst. Instead of rising to her test like he normally did he simply smirked and leaned back, making himself comfortable before he dropped whatever bombshell that he had. She concealed her surprise at this, his norm was to let off a bit of steam by berating her before settling down to whatever business they needed to discuss. His new attitude did not bode well for Leta.

There was no pleasantries, no questions about how she was feeling or how her life was going. He wasn’t that type of man, it was straight down to business. Despite trying to prepare herself for the speech and the unavoidable misfortune that was about to befall her she was still left utterly flabbergasted when her father told her why she was there. “Leta you are a young women now and as my only heir I think it is time we find you a suitable husband” 

As those words were uttered Letas world seemed to tip on its axis. Her? Married? There was no way she could do that. No way that she could ever love someone. Regrettably her father didn’t seem to see it that way as he continued “I’ve found a candidate that is suitable and on top of that willing to marry you which is more than we could have hoped for.” It was an unfair jab but a true one and all she could do was nod. After all Leta was the outsider of her house, the one who despite being one of the sacred twenty-eight had never really fitted in with the rest of the purebloods.

Bracing herself for the news she found the courage to ask “who am I marrying.” She wasn’t sure who her father had picked but could probably guess that whoever it was was a rich pure blood who needed a wife to produce a heir. Traditionally these type of men didn’t care much about their wives personality; only their family and blood status.

A terrible smile came over Mr Lestranges face as he answered “Augustus Rowle”.

As soon as the name was mentioned Letas heart sank. It was worse than she could have imagined. She knew Augustus or rather she knew of him. The brother of her school tormenter Hector Rowle who had made her life in Slytherin extremely difficult had a reputation for being a bully and rough with his girlfriends. The thought of being with him for even a second filled her with disgust; how would she cope for a lifetime? It was impossible, it would never happen, it couldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.

Alas it seemed like her father wasn’t done with trying to ruin her life. He had been watching her reaction and it was with an air of casualness that he said “as soon as you’re seventeen you will be officially engaged to him. Your duty is simple; you must provide him with a heir and be a good obedient wife”

At these words the fear that ran through Leta was unparalleled. Her opposition to motherhood ran much deeper than simply not wanting to do it and she knew that she could never hold a child, never care for one, not after what had happened with Corvus.

Normally she would never have spoken out against her father but fear made her brave and before she knew it she was blurting out “I won’t, I can’t because you can’t force me to.” It was the first time that she had stood up to him and it felt good, like she was finally starting to take control of her life.

As soon as the words were out she realised her mistake but the damage was done and her fathers eyes flashed as he got to his feet and looked at her as though he couldn’t believe what had just came out of her mouth. Finally he ground out the question “what did you say?” as though each word physically hurt him to say, as if he didn’t think his daughter was worthy of his anger.

Leta steeled herself. This was her last chance to stand up to him before her future was decided and she needed to use it. “I said I won’t marry him. I refuse to.” The words were out now and there was no turning back- the rollercoaster ride had started and she would have to ride it out until the end.

Her father looked bewildered like he couldn’t quite understand why his daughter was finally starting to stand up to him but he quickly regained his composure and motioned for her to get into the usual position. It was routine now and she had almost been expecting it before she came downstairs. With a building feeling of dread she complied and when the first lash of the belt hit her it hardly hurt her at all, the turmoil in her mind hurting her more than any physical pain could.

She didn’t dare cry and gritted her teeth knowing that if she showed any sign of weakness it would just lead to her getting hit more and more. After what felt like an eternity he finally stopped and stepped back to let her stand up again. She didn’t dare look him in the eye and as he crossed over to the door to hold it open and jerked his head, telling her it was time for her to leave.

She limped to the door and no sooner was she out than it was closed in her face. Making her way upstairs she collapsed on her bed, reaching a hand round to her back to assess the damage, not surprised when it came away stained with blood. The skin there was so delicate that it only took a few lashes to break it and with the amount he’s just done she’s shocked that it isn’t broken behind repair.

It isn’t the first time he’s hit her, not by a long shot but it seems that every time still hurts her, every time she still questions what she did to deserve this. Why did he hate her so much? What had she ever done to him? Right from the first time he had ever hit her when she was a defenceless five year old she had understood that it wasn’t an act of discipline, it was an act of hatred.

The tears didn’t come having been beaten out of her years ago but as she lay there pondering her future she couldn’t help but feel defeated. She had always been a fighter, always confronted her problems head on and had never let them consume her but there was no fighting this, no getting away from it. She doesn’t have a choice in the matter. As far as she’s concerned her duty to the Lestrange family is set in stone.

**Author's Note:**

> At least this one didn’t make me cry;)


End file.
